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Ida B. Wells Biography

Ida B. Wells, Activist
Born asIda Bell Wells-Barnett
Occup.Activist
FromUSA
SpouseFerdinand L. Barnett (1895)
BornJuly 16, 1862
Holly Springs, Mississippi, USA
DiedMarch 25, 1931
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Aged68 years
Early Life and Education
Ida B. Wells (full name Ida Bell Wells-Barnett) was born on July 16, 1862, in Holly Springs, Mississippi, to James and Lizzie Wells. Both her moms and dads were enslaved up until the end of the Civil War. Ida's daddy, James, became a knowledgeable carpenter and her mother, Lizzie, ended up being a renowned cook. They taught Ida the importance of education, community service, and pride.

Wells got education at Shaw University in Holly Springs (presently known as Rust College), a school for freshly freed African-Americans. At age 16, after losing both her moms and dads and a sibling in the 1878 yellow fever epidemic, she was required to leave school and become the primary caretaker of her remaining five siblings.

Taking a Stand versus Injustice
To support her family, Wells lied about her age to secure a task as an instructor in a rural black school. Ultimately, she relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, where she became a teacher in an African-American neighborhood. She continued her own education during the summer months at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1884, during a train flight from Memphis to Nashville, Wells was eliminated from the train's first-rate ladies' cars and truck, regardless of having a ticket, due to her race. She took legal action against the railroad company and at first won the case; nevertheless, it was eventually overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court. This event fired up Wells' enthusiasm for civil liberties activism, and she started blogging about race and politics under the pen name "Iola.".

Journalism and Anti-Lynching Advocacy
Wells became a prominent journalist, very first composing for black newspapers like the "Living Way" and later on co-owning the "Memphis Free Speech and Headlight" paper. Her short articles resolved concerns such as segregation, financial chances for African-Americans, and the lynching of black people in the United States.

Wells' anti-lynching crusade began in 1892 after 3 of her good friends were lynched without trial by a white mob. Wells began to examine the reasons behind lynching, discovering that numerous cases were based on incorrect allegations and fear-mongering. She produced a handout called "Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases", exposing the motivations behind this kind of violence. As a result of her work, Wells' life was threatened, and her paper workplace was damaged.

In spite of these ordeals, she continued her anti-lynching campaign and released "A Red Record: Alleged Causes of Lynching" in 1895, which recorded lynchings in the United States. She traveled throughout the U.S. and Europe promoting against these atrocities and requiring reforms.

Activism and Leadership
Wells was an establishing member of several organizations that dealt with the struggles faced by African-Americans in the United States. In 1893, together with Frederick Douglass and other black leaders, she formed the American Council of Colored Women (ACW), which later ended up being referred to as the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC). The organization's primary objective was to enhance living and working conditions for African-American ladies and their households.

In 1909, Wells turned into one of the charter member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). However, she later distanced herself from the organization due to internal disagreements over its technique to combating bigotry.

In 1913, she developed the Alpha Suffrage Club, a company for African-American females that focused on women's suffrage and political representation. The club played a substantial role in the election of Oscar De Priest, the very first African-American Alderman in Chicago.

Personal Life and Legacy
In 1895, Ida B. Wells married African-American legal representative Ferdinand L. Barnett. They had 4 children. Wells continued her activism and composing till her death on March 25, 1931, in Chicago.

Today, Ida B. Wells is remembered as a pioneer in the battle versus racial injustice, gender inequality, and violence. Her bold work examining and exposing the scary of lynching laid the structure for the civil liberties movement in the United States. Her steady commitment to equal rights for all individuals left an indelible mark on history.

Our collection contains 26 quotes who is written / told by Ida.

Related authors: Lawrence Taylor (Athlete), Frederick Douglass (Author)

Source / external links:

26 Famous quotes by Ida B. Wells

Small: The city of Memphis has demonstrated that neither character nor standing avails the Negro if he dares t
"The city of Memphis has demonstrated that neither character nor standing avails the Negro if he dares to protect himself against the white man or become his rival"
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Small: The appeal to the white mans pocket has ever been more effectual than all the appeals ever made to his
"The appeal to the white man's pocket has ever been more effectual than all the appeals ever made to his conscience"
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Small: Although lynchings have steadily increased in number and barbarity during the last twenty years, there
"Although lynchings have steadily increased in number and barbarity during the last twenty years, there has been no single effort put forth by the many moral and philanthropic forces of the country to put a stop to this wholesale slaughter"
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Small: The alleged menace of universal suffrage having been avoided by the absolute suppression of the negro v
"The alleged menace of universal suffrage having been avoided by the absolute suppression of the negro vote, the spirit of mob murder should have been satisfied and the butchery of negroes should have ceased"
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Small: The Afro-American is thus the backbone of the South
"The Afro-American is thus the backbone of the South"
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Small: I came home every Friday afternoon, riding the six miles on the back of a big mule. I spent Saturday an
"I came home every Friday afternoon, riding the six miles on the back of a big mule. I spent Saturday and Sunday washing and ironing and cooking for the children and went back to my country school on Sunday afternoon"
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Small: The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press
"The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press"
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Small: The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes
"The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the crowd"
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Small: Our countrys national crime is lynching. It is not the creature of an hour, the sudden outburst of unco
"Our country's national crime is lynching. It is not the creature of an hour, the sudden outburst of uncontrolled fury, or the unspeakable brutality of an insane mob"
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Small: Thus lynch law held sway in the far West until civilization spread into the Territories and the orderly
"Thus lynch law held sway in the far West until civilization spread into the Territories and the orderly processes of law took its place. The emergency no longer existing, lynching gradually disappeared from the West"
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Small: The white mans victory soon became complete by fraud, violence, intimidation and murder
"The white man's victory soon became complete by fraud, violence, intimidation and murder"
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Small: The South is brutalized to a degree not realized by its own inhabitants, and the very foundation of gov
"The South is brutalized to a degree not realized by its own inhabitants, and the very foundation of government, law and order, are imperilled"
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Small: If this work can contribute in any way toward proving this, and at the same time arouse the conscience
"If this work can contribute in any way toward proving this, and at the same time arouse the conscience of the American people to a demand for justice to every citizen, and punishment by law for the lawless, I shall feel I have done my race a service"
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Small: No nation, savage or civilized, save only the United States of America, has confessed its inability to
"No nation, savage or civilized, save only the United States of America, has confessed its inability to protect its women save by hanging, shooting, and burning alleged offenders"
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Small: The only times an Afro-American who was assaulted got away has been when he had a gun and used it in se
"The only times an Afro-American who was assaulted got away has been when he had a gun and used it in self-defense"
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Small: Somebody must show that the Afro-American race is more sinned against than sinning, and it seems to hav
"Somebody must show that the Afro-American race is more sinned against than sinning, and it seems to have fallen upon me to do so"
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Small: Brave men do not gather by thousands to torture and murder a single individual, so gagged and bound he
"Brave men do not gather by thousands to torture and murder a single individual, so gagged and bound he cannot make even feeble resistance or defense"
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Small: There is nothing we can do about the lynching now, as we are out-numbered and without arms
"There is nothing we can do about the lynching now, as we are out-numbered and without arms"
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Small: The Afro-American is not a bestial race
"The Afro-American is not a bestial race"
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Small: The South resented giving the Afro-American his freedom, the ballot box and the Civil Rights Law
"The South resented giving the Afro-American his freedom, the ballot box and the Civil Rights Law"
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Small: In fact, for all kinds of offenses - and, for no offenses - from murders to misdemeanors, men and women
"In fact, for all kinds of offenses - and, for no offenses - from murders to misdemeanors, men and women are put to death without judge or jury; so that, although the political excuse was no longer necessary, the wholesale murder of human beings went on just the same"
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Small: I had an instinctive feeling that the people who have little or no school training should have somethin
"I had an instinctive feeling that the people who have little or no school training should have something coming into their homes weekly which dealt with their problems in a simple, helpful way... so I wrote in a plain, common-sense way on the things that concerned our people"
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Small: What becomes a crime deserving capital punishment when the tables are turned is a matter of small momen
"What becomes a crime deserving capital punishment when the tables are turned is a matter of small moment when the negro woman is the accusing party"
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Small: The white mans dollar is his god, and to stop this will be to stop outrages in many localities
"The white man's dollar is his god, and to stop this will be to stop outrages in many localities"
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Small: The negro has suffered far more from the commission of this crime against the women of his race by whit
"The negro has suffered far more from the commission of this crime against the women of his race by white men than the white race has ever suffered through his crimes"
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Small: The mob spirit has grown with the increasing intelligence of the Afro-American
"The mob spirit has grown with the increasing intelligence of the Afro-American"
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